Parades Commission to stick with ruling

Orangemen have agreed to abide by the restrictions set by the Parades Commission regarding Saturday's contentious parade in west Belfast.

Earlier in the week, the Commission ruled that a single Orange Order lodge would be granted access to to the Springfield Road via the Workman Avenue, with the remainder of the parade having to pass through the site of the former Mackies factory.

On Wednesday, the Parades Commission reconvened to discuss the issue, following a request from Sinn Fein to review their decision, however after the meeting, the body decided to reject the request on the ground that there was no new evidence to support it.

Sinn Fein said that the determination was rewarding violence.

Last year, the Commission disallowed the parade to pass through the area, which resulted in some of the worst disruptions experienced in the city for a number of years.

The PSNI estimated that the cost of policing in the area, along with the expense caused by rioting in loyalist areas, totalled around £3 million.

A spokesman for the North and West Belfast Parades Forum said that it was a difficult decision but there had to be a compromise.

He said: "If we can achieve a peaceful summer we'll have played our part.

"One side can't have a veto and it has to be done in a spirit of compromise and accommodation, it can't be just one side's story told here."

The Parades Commission was set up in 1997 to rule on whether controversial parades should be restricted.

(EF/SP)